Meaning & Origins

Scottish (Borders), northern English, and northern Irish: habitational name from any of several places in the Border region of Scotland called Nesbit(t) or Nisbit, named in northern Middle English with nese ‘nose’ + bit ‘mouthful’, ‘piece of ground’ (Old English bita) or bit ‘bend’ (Old English byht, modern bight). The place names refer either to a piece of raised land sticking up like a nose, or to a bend in a river shaped like a nose.